THE QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL (QEH) will soon have a new director of medical services and it will not be a Barbadian.
After an extensive headhunt, the post vacant for more than two years, is to be filled by Gulzar Mufti, a consultant urological cancer surgeon and medical director at Medway Maritime Hospital, in Kent, England.
Mufti, born in India, but who has been practising medicine in Britain for more than two decades, is expected to take up the appointment in June.
Reports indicate he was here last month for an interview and was unanimously approved by the panel that included several members of the QEH board of directors.
Chairman Reverend Guy Hewitt confirmed that after an unsuccessful executive search locally and in the Caribbean, it was decided to search further afield to fill the post made vacant when Dr Brian Charles resigned in August 2008.
Since then, Dr Delores Lewis, consultant medical microbiologist, who also heads the pathology laboratory at the QEH, has been acting in the position.
Government, in collaboration with the British Association of Medical Managers, placed a notice in the British Medical Journal, and Mufti was among those who responded.
“We are very happy to be able to fill this very critical post in the management of the hospital,”?Hewitt said yesterday.
“The process of recruitment has been long, but it was necessary for us to find the best qualified person suited for the job and who is qualified to meet the challenges faced at the QEH.”
Mufti, who specialises in urology, has been the medical director of the Medway National Health Service Foundation and an executive member of the Trust Board since 2004.
He was awarded a “silver” clinical excellence award by the British Department of Health for his overall contribution to the National Health Scheme.
“His credentials are unquestionable,” said Hewitt.
“At the same time, however, I want to give credit where it is due, and Dr Lewis has done a commendable job acting in the position.“
She had dual responsibilies, leading her department and still acting in this critical post. She worked hard and I would publicly commend her,” Hewitt added.
